


Our own steps

by irisdouglasiana



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, all fluff all the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13232280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisdouglasiana/pseuds/irisdouglasiana
Summary: Sometimes it’s easy for Daniel to forget that Peggy Carter isn’t superhuman.





	Our own steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muscatmusic18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muscatmusic18/gifts).



Sometimes it’s easy for Daniel to forget that Peggy Carter isn’t superhuman. And after the fallout of the Isodyne case and Jack’s shooting, things move awfully fast, and there’s no time to breathe, no time to stop, just endless rounds of calls and hours spent at the hospital and chasing down leads. Until a week later, when Peggy collapses in his arms at the crime scene, and he feels her forehead and realizes she’s burning up.

It turns out all the activity aggravated the wound that she received at the Roxxon facility. Violet had done her best and she certainly had saved Peggy’s life, but she had been working under difficult circumstances, and the injury hadn’t had time to heal. They rush her to the hospital and start her on antibiotics and fluids, but she’s running a fever of 104° and she’s completely out of it.

Daniel’s out of it, too, rushing back and forth between Jack’s room on the third floor and Peggy’s room on the second, full of guilt that he hadn’t noticed earlier that she was sick. It takes a blunt intervention from Rose to calm him down. “Chief Sousa, this isn’t helping her. And it’s not helping you, either.”

She’s right, of course. Over his objections, Rose sends him home to shower and sleep, and when he comes back in the morning he has to admit he feels much better. He’s at Peggy’s side, on the verge of falling asleep, when her fever finally breaks and her voice brings him back to consciousness. He’s never heard her sound so tired. “Daniel?”

“You scared me for a minute there, Carter,” he says, rubbing his eyes. He’s trying to keep his tone light, but he can’t disguise his relief.

She gives him a small, exhausted smile. “I’m sorry, Chief.”

He strokes her hair. Her skin is damp under his touch. “Thought I told you to not do this to me again.”

“You did.” She shifts slightly and grimaces when she tries to sit up. He puts his hand on her shoulder and gently pushes her back down. “How long…?”

“Three days,” Daniel answers. “You collapsed at the hotel. Remember?”

She shakes her head. “I feel terrible. What about the investigation? Jack?”

He takes her hand and presses her palm against his lips. “Rose and I have it covered, and Jack’s been complaining about hospital food, so he’s definitely gonna live, unless I get annoyed enough to kill him. _You_ need to rest. No sneaking out of here to track down leads. That’s an order, Agent.”

“You’re not my supervisor,” she protests, but not very forcefully.

“Then let me ask you as a friend.”

Peggy nods and bites her lip and he realizes she’s holding back tears. She’s beautiful, he thinks, even in a hospital gown, no makeup, limp hair plastered against her neck. Violet had seen right through him. _You were running away_ , she said, and if he’s being honest, ever since he came back from Bastogne, he’s always been running. But after all the months of rationalizations and denials, he can’t run from the truth anymore. It’s right there in front of him. And the truth is that he loves Peggy Carter.

* * *

Peggy is discharged after a few more days in the hospital, and Daniel drives her back to Stark’s estate. The moment he pulls the car into the driveway, Jarvis dashes out and opens the passenger side door for Peggy and helps her up. She’s still weak and woozy from the medication and she leans on him as he leads her inside, her right hand pressed over the stitches in her side. Daniel trails behind them, keeping his distance.

Jarvis takes Peggy to her bedroom and bustles off to make tea and fetch heated towels, leaving Daniel standing awkwardly in her doorway. He clears his throat. “Guess I should get back to the office.”

She looks at him sharply and scoots over to make room for him on the bed. “You can stay, if you like,” she says, almost shyly.

So he sits down next to her and leans his crutch up against the wall, and before he can say anything she takes his hand and rests her head on his shoulder. “Thank you,” she murmurs.

“Ah, don’t mention it.” He squeezes her hand. “You all right?”

She lifts her head from his shoulder and nods. “Are you?”

Is he? He must hesitate for too long, because she continues, “I was thinking about what you said to me in the van. ‘Sometimes you have to put your faith in others to get the job done.’ Do you remember?”

He looks down at their intertwined fingers. “Yeah,” he says cautiously.     

She traces his jaw lightly, and he meets her eyes. “You meant physically, but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” There is a gentleness in her voice that he hasn’t heard before. “Who do you put your faith in, Daniel?”

“You,” he blurts without thinking. “You.”

Her eyes grow wide, but before she can respond, Jarvis walks through the door bearing a tray with a teapot and a pair of teacups. Daniel lets go of Peggy’s hand and they quickly slide apart.

“Oh! Pardon me,” Jarvis apologizes. He deposits the tray on the night stand before beating a hasty retreat, and Daniel likes the man but damn if he doesn’t want to kill him. The moment is lost, anyhow, so he reluctantly reaches for his crutch and stands up.

“I’ll be back later. You’re all set here?” he asks Peggy, trying to sound casual.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Her cheeks are very red, and Daniel suspects his are as well. “Daniel…you don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders, either. I can carry it with you, if you’ll let me.”

For some reason, his voice catches in his throat. “I know.”

* * *

Once Peggy is stronger, Daniel starts bringing over casework to get her up to speed. She’s not cleared yet to return to the office, but she’s restless and irritated about being left out of the action. He’s missed having her insights; she thinks of things that wouldn’t have occurred to him, and he always ends up staying longer than he intends. (Jarvis takes him aside and thanks him profusely. “A bored Miss Carter is a dangerous thing,” he says. Daniel doesn’t doubt it.)

One afternoon when they need a break from the work, they take a walk in Stark’s orchard. Their progress is slow, but Daniel doesn’t care and he doesn’t think Peggy minds either. He kisses her under the shade of the avocado trees. It’s gentle and unhurried, like they have all the time in the world.

He could stay out here forever, he thinks, just drinking in the sight of her through the dappled light of the trees. She’s still a little pale and her foundation doesn’t quite hide the bags under her eyes, but she has that radiant smile spreading across her face. Daniel’s been lucky enough to catch glimpses of it a few times before. He remembers her cool professionalism and the firm grip of her handshake when he met her for the first time in New York over a year ago, _pleasure to meet you, Agent Sousa_ , and he wonders about all the bits and pieces of Peggy he hasn’t seen yet.

He wonders what sort of man she sees when she looks at him with her steady gaze. There are things he’s kept hidden from everyone, and things he won’t admit even to himself; all the pride and shame and anger and fear he’s spent the last few years compartmentalizing and pushing away. What would it take to share some of that burden with her; to let some part of that weight go? What would she think of him then, with his defenses stripped away?

_No, not yet. But maybe someday—_

Peggy steps back first, reaching out to brush a stray hair from his forehead. She takes a deep breath. “Daniel, I…”

For a moment, he thinks she’s going to tell him _I can’t do this; I have to go back to New York_ , and he’ll have to say _I understand_. He’s been trying to prepare himself for this conversation. She came out here to help with the case, and once she's fully healed and they’ve brought Jack’s shooter to justice, that will be the end of it. It isn’t just about his feelings, after all.

But Peggy Carter can always find ways to surprise him. “I’ve decided to stay in Los Angeles.” There is no hesitation in her voice, no second-guessing.

“I…you have?”

“With you.”

For a moment, he’s completely speechless. “Oh. You…oh.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Or I could return to New York.”

“No!” He’s grinning like an idiot. “No, of course I want you to stay.” He wants to pick her up and spin her in a circle, but he settles for kissing her instead. “Well, if you’re sticking around, once you’re up to it, we should go out. See the city. We don’t have to work on cases all the time. Whatever you want to do.”  

“I seem to recall we never went out for drinks,” she says. “Perhaps we could go dancing as well? If you like,” she adds hastily.

He can think of a few places. “Sure, if you don’t mind taking it slow. I should warn you, I’m not up to speed on the latest dance moves.”

There’s that smile again. “We can make our own steps.”

Already his mind is racing ahead into the future, filled with possibilities he hadn’t dared imagine before. He laughs. “Then it’s a date.”


End file.
